Met-Ed Has an Appetite for Economic Development

Central Pennsylvania’s Interstate 78-Interstate 81 corridor, which runs through the heart of Met-Ed territory, is one of the most active areas for industrial leasing in the nation. Key economic development factors include being an overnight drive to one-third of the nation’s population, competitive electric rates and available land. Last year, the region landed 10 million square feet of new industrial leases – including more 1 million square foot leases (8) of any other U. S. market – resulting in 4,000 new jobs and $1 billion in capital investment. 

The growth in 2021 continues to be impressive. To date, there are nine total announced projects in the corridor, representing more than 4 million square-feet of space, $107 million in total capital investment, 1,300 new jobs and 18 megawatts (MWs) of new electrical load. To be considered “announced,” the customer has made a significant commitment to build and is at least 90% likely to bring the project to completion.

In addition, there are 87 other projects in the pipeline, featuring 25 million square-feet of space, the potential for $800 million total capital investment, more than 5,500 new jobs and 200 MWs of added electrical load. (One megawatt can power approximately 600 homes.)

“We’ve added well over 46 million square feet with more than 124.5 MWs of new load in recent years,” said Steve Iseman, Met-Ed manager, Customer Accounts. “We have customers like Amazon, Starbucks, FedEx, UPS, Dollar General.”

Ensuring adequate and reliable electricity for the new development as well as existing customers is a top priority for Met-Ed and parent company FirstEnergy. The company’s economic development team partners closely with developers to begin planning long before ground is broken on new projects.

Iseman says the growth can present challenges. The I-78 corridor is relatively rural. Much of the new development occurs on the edge of the electric distribution system where there is often limited electrical capacity or available facilities. 

“A lot of the developers are building on speculation, so the initial information about required load can be very vague,” Iseman said. “We work closely with them to accurately determine how much electricity will be needed to safely and reliably accommodate their plans.”

A recent example is River Pointe Logistics Park, a project with 5.5 million square feet of industrial/warehousing space across 13 buildings on 725 acres in Upper Mount Bethel, Northampton County. The property is located 1.5 miles from Exit 4 of Interstate 80, just under 65 miles from the Port of New York and New Jersey and 80 miles from the Port of Philadelphia.

“River Pointe Logistics Park is being called the largest planned industrial park on the east coast, with strong interest from food and beverage companies and manufacturers,” said Met-Ed Economic Development Consultant Joe Malda. “Rather than upgrade the site one facility at a time, Met-Ed’s engineering, customer support, external affairs and economic development groups are working with the developer to create a comprehensive strategy to address the electrical needs for the entire logistics park. Ultimately, the total electric load for the site is expected to be approximately 45 MW by 2027.”

Growing Interest from Food Companies

Malda adds that there has been increasing site selection interest from various growers looking to build sizable greenhouses and vertical grow centers in the I-78/I-81 corridor. While these mostly vine fruit growers are prospects that haven't committed yet, some are established growers, and others are start-ups both from within the U.S. as well as foreign based.

“The greenhouses are attracted to our area because of our competitive rates as well as our strong agricultural history,” said Malda. “When it comes to food and snack manufacturers, you could say that Met-Ed has an appetite for economic development. Hanover in York County is known as the snack capital of the world with Snyder’s of Hanover, Utz and Herr’s potato chips and pretzels being some of the best-known brands.”  

Malda adds that Kennett Square in Chester County is known as the mushroom capital of the world, producing over 500 million pounds of the tasty fungi, which represents half of the U.S. mushroom crop. 

Other major food facilities in the region include Dietz & Watson meats, Frito-Lay snacks and Turkey Hill Ice Cream and Iced Tea.

Also, most people aren’t aware of the fact that Starbucks has their largest distribution facility in the world in York County, right next to one of their largest roasting facilities that produces 3 million pounds of coffee a week for the Atlantic seaboard and most of Canada and Europe.

When combined with Met-Ed’s track-record of strong customer service and reliable power, these projects are a taste of more economic development to come along the I-78/I-81 corridor.

CONTACT: Mark Durbin, 330-761-4365